Quote by Dancing_Doll
I had been hoping they would touch on the origins of the virus ie. what started it, how did it become airborne so quickly (and globally). I read an interview with Robert Kirkman who said the show isn't about that (or concerned with it), however I thought one of the strongest episodes on TWD was the one with Dr. Jenner, the scientist, at the CDC explaining how the virus reanimates the basic core of the brain. I would love to see more of that.
It also might have been cool to see a glimpse into different pockets of characters (eg. EMT, hospital staff, government, news reporters etc). I think it would have been interesting to go beyond this core family and then have all the characters converge later on.
Re the main family. I agree with others, I'm not feeling the parental units at the moment, or the sulky teenage girl. Unlike everyone else however, I absolutely love the Nick character. He's by far and away the most interesting one on the show and Frank Dillane's acting is absolutely stellar. He approached the role of a junkie with considerable complexity and vulnerability and I was kind of blown away actually. I thought he stole every scene he was in and I started feeling like maybe he was the main protagonist and the parents were the backseat characters. I'm already invested in him. The others.. not so much (yet).
There were a few lapses in believability that were frustrating with the parents and maybe that's why I'm turned off them - ie. why would Travis hear about a massacre at a drug den (involving blood and viscera) and then think the smartest thing to do was to go there... to the drug den. At night. And then, after seeing the mess himself, instead of calling the cops, he brings his wife there, who shrugs it off as "well, bad things happen all the time in places like this." What?? Come on, did you not see the viscera?? lol
Yeah, I think it's a bit of a missed opportunity not to get into the virus itself, as well as the story arcs for other groups of characters. I'm especially craving the first responder point of view and some good old fashioned nuts and bolts zombie stuff. I would have liked to see it from the very beginning, rather than the disjointed half of LA is getting the fuck out of town to escape the virus, while the other half rages against the authorities for being heavy handed for some reason thing.
The family's not blowing my skirt up either. It's almost as if they've wandered over from the set of the last generic disaster movie - cliché mum with the heart of gold, loser dad trying too hard to prove himself, angry teen kid #1 and troubled teen # 2... sigh. I don't like any of them yet.
It was the whole junkie thing that set off my believability hackles. Nick would have been a mess in the hospital coming down off the gear, rather than having quite comfortable D&Ms with the stepdad. Allowing for something given to him by the doctors to help with the detox, he at least would have been a sweating, spewing, agonised train wreck when meeting up with his dealer later on. But the bridge too far was him actually being able to overpower the dealer under the overpass. Supersmack ex machina I guess.
Still, I'm absolutely hooked, and I can't wait to see how it all goes to shit. The neighbours getting eaten on their front lawn at the end of last week's episode was chilling. The break three weeks in though... what the fuck?!
